442 EURAMERICA Similarly, despite the fact that Whitman had voiced racially derogative remarks concerning people of other races and even nonAnglo Saxon Europeans,53 he was famed more for being a great champion of immigration, multiculturalism, and internationalism. As an extension of his (homo)politics of democratic fraternity (and male love), Whitman’s internationalist call for global comradeship, articulated quite early in “Poem of Salutation” (1856: 103; later “Salut au Monde!”) and reiterated throughout his works, has earned him worldwide praise in response.54 Yet given his support of acts of US territorial expansion during his lifetime, we can almost be certain of his endorsement of the nation’s future overseas feats such as the annexation of Hawaii and the acquirement of colonies after the Spanish-American War (though it is known that he sometimes also voiced sentiments to the contrary). After all, the modern endeavors of European colonization of the world were enthusiastically celebrated by Whitman in poems like “Passage to India” (1871b: 515) as unprecedented civilizing advancements.55 Therefore, how should we make of these apparently antithetical voicings and attitudes? In sum, taken together, Whitman’s stance concerning other races and their claim to the American nation is so flaringly self-contradictory that critics are drastically divided on the topic, as either side—i.e., Whitman as a 53 See Rubinstein, who insightfully points out that, while “Whitman continued to vigorously defend immigration” (2018: 313), he saw it as nothing but a favored replacement of Native American population (307) and that Whitman in fact “freely participated in the racial stereotypes and pseudoscience of the late nineteenth century” (313). Many illustrations can be found in Whitman’s daily comments as recorded by Horace Traubel in With Walt Whitman in Camden (1906-1996). 54 See C23 (1860-1861: 367; later “This Moment Yearning and Thoughtful”) for a succinct example. However, see Phillips (1994) for an acute critical reading of “Salut au Monde!” that demonstrates Whitman’s subscription rather than challenge to his contemporaneous racial thinking. 55 For a detailed reading of this poem that confirms most of what is said here but still argues for a postcolonial ambivalence on Whitman’s part, see Paryz (2012: 178-203).
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